Grand Slam
by MyCedarChest
Summary: What's red and gold and really swings? Surprise! For once it's not Iron Man!


**Most of the characters in this story belong to Marvel Comics and whoever else has current legal ownership of Iron Man at the moment. No infringement on any corporate, business, or individual's rights is intended in any way. This story is not being written for profit, just for enjoyment.**

**Grand Slam**

It was a hot, muggy spring Saturday afternoon at the Rose Hill Little League fields. The only good thing about the weather was that a few clouds had finally rolled in over the fields as if somehow taking pity on the young players. Harley was in one of the batting cages warming up for his game and his coach was as usual yelling at him.

"Harley!" Coach Whitaker said from behind the screen "Pay attention, son!"

Harley snapped to attention and swung hard at the next pitch. He managed to just tip the ball and sent the baseball flying into the netting just to Harley's left.

"Next batter!" his coach called out as Harley dejectedly slung his bat over his shoulder and walked outside of the batting cage as one of his teammates trotted past him to take his place.

Harley wished he was better at batting. He was the smallest player on his team, but he could outrun most of his teammates and he had great hands, so he would always end up playing center field. But he always ended up at the bottom of the roster because of his weak batting. No matter how hard he tried, he could never get any power behind his hits.

"Listen up, boys!" Coach Whitaker yelled loudly to his team "Take a water break and then meet up at field 6 in 30 minutes. And don't be late!"

As the other boys walked past Harley, he continued to just stare into the batting cage wishing he was better at batting.

"Hi, there!" a cheerful voice from behind him said, nearly causing Harley to drop his bat as he turned to see a tall woman in blue jeans, white button up shirt with her hair tucked up under an old baseball cap and dark sunglasses covering her face. She had a 5 gallon bucket of baseballs in one hand and a brand new bat in the other. "I hope you don't mind, but I saw you batting a few minutes ago and I was wondering if you would let me help you with your batting a little."

Harley looked at the woman as she spoke and he couldn't help but get a feeling that he knew her somehow. He was suddenly at a loss for words as the lady continued to watch him, patiently waiting for him to respond to her. His silence continued.

"I've coached batting for high school and college, so I **am** qualified, just so you'll know." She continued with a small smile.

Harley couldn't help but smile back. Although he didn't know this woman at all, he immediately liked her. "OK." He said simply, a small smile breaking out on his face matching her smile. "I'm sure Coach Whitaker won't mind. After all I **am **the worst batter on the team, so there's no where to go but up from here."

The lady chuckled good-naturedly. "Let's see what we can do about helping you move up, shall we." She walked over to the batter's box with him. "Hold out your bat. First, I want to make sure that it is the right size for you."

Harvey followed her instructions holding the bat out with one hand and then flexing the bat back towards him.

She reached out and gently took his bat from him offering him in return a brand new red and gold bat. "Try this bat." She said as he took the bat from her. "It's two ounces lighter."

Harvey took the bat from her and flexed it. The new bat felt good in his hands. He looked up and smiled at the lady and she smiled back at him while motioning him into position in the batter's box as she took his old bat and the bucket of balls behind the pitcher's screen with her.

"I'm going to toss you a few so I can watch your technique." She said as he placed the bat onto his shoulder.

She threw three pitches to him carefully watching as he swung the bat each time. He managed to get a wobbly hit on each pitch. After the third pitch she walked out from behind the screen, pulling a black sharpie marker out of her back pocket as she walked.

"Your speed and timing are good, but you are breaking your wrists too far over when you contact the ball." She said as she gently took the bat out of his hands and began to mark the light gray leather grip with the sharpie. Harley noticed that she had a single gold band with one diamond on her left ring finger. Whoever his new batting coach was, she was definitely married. "Now I want you to place your hands her on my marks and I'll toss you a few more balls to bat."

As she walked back behind the screen Harley put his hands on the marks and took a few practice swings quickly. The lady was right. His grip seemed to be firmer on the bat now.

With a nod of his head, the lady threw the first pitch to him. To his surprise, when his bat hit the pitched ball, the ball soared up into the air. With each pitch his confidence grew, and balls sailed further and further up and out from the batter's box away from him.

Twenty-three pitches and 23 hits later, the woman walked out from behind the pitcher's screen. "Look's like I'm out of balls." She said smiling broadly "But that's OK, because it looks like you don't need the practice any more!"

Harley hurriedly helped her pick up the baseballs and put them in her bucket as another team walked towards the batting cage. They both walked outside the batting cage as other players began walking around and between them.

"Thanks for the help with my batting and for letting me use your bat." Harley told her as he held out the bat for her to take back.

"Tell you what" she replied with a huge smile, suddenly tucking Harley's old bat securely under one of her arms "I've been looking for a bat just like yours….so how about we trade?"

"Wow!" Harley said in surprise. "You mean it?! I mean….my bat's kinda old and worn out." He explained "It doesn't seem like a fair trade to me."

The lady smiled broadly at him. "Well then" she began "how about you buy me a grape sno-cone after your game and we can call it even."

"Deal!" Harvey said loudly reaching out to shake her hand firmly. "But how will I find you after the game."

"Don't worry" she replied turning away from him as she began to blend into the crowd around them. "I will find **you**, Harley." She called back over her shoulder to him as she disappeared from his view.

Harley blinked his eyes rapidly and then pinched himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. He then looked down at the new bat in his hand. Then he picked up his gear bag carefully placing his new bat inside it for safe keeping and he ran as quickly as he could through the crowd towards Field 6 hoping that he wasn't late for his team's pre-game warm up.

Harley's team, the Sharks was currently tied for first place in their division and they were playing the Tigers who was the team that the Sharks were tied with. This afternoon's game was to decide who would go to the playoffs in their division, so all of the boys as well as their coaches were excited and a little nervous about today's game.

As usual, Harley's granddad and mom were at the game to root Harley on. Harley saw them as they were warming up. The Sharks lost the coin toss, so the Tigers got to bat first. Harley made a good catch for an out to retire the Tigers. But the Tigers' pitcher was on fire today, and he struck out the first three Sharks' batters. The second inning wasn't as good for the Sharks' defense and the Sharks scored one run before the Shark's pitcher struck the side out.

The Tigers' pitcher continued his hot streak and Sharks' batters 4, 5, and 6 all grounded out to first base.

The Tigers managed to tag on one more run in the top of the third inning. Harley caught another fly ball to center field and he was happy that he already had two outs in the game to his credit as he ran towards the dugout.

The Sharks' 7th batter got a single. Their 8th batter stuck out. Now it was Harley's turn.

He proudly carried his new red and gold bat up to home plate. He could hear lots of voices shouting his name as he stepped into the batter's box. He recognized the voices of his grandfather and mom, but he also could hear a somewhat familiar voice in the crowd. He didn't want to turn around to see who that voice belonged to, so he just stared ahead at the Tigers' pitcher.

The first pitch was low and outside and Harley let it go by him. But the second pitch was low and right over the plate. Harley exhaled quickly as his eyes tracked the ball. He quickly swung the bat and he was dimly aware of a metallic ping as he watched the ball go sailing over the second baseman's head and land in front of the Tiger's center fielder. Harley was in shock about getting such a good hit, but the shock didn't last long. He quickly took off sprinting for first base. His first base coach held him up at first base, but he noticed that his teammate had made a bold run for third base and was safe. On the very next pitch, Harley got the sign from his third base coach to steal and Harley took off like a shot sliding safely into second base safely ahead of the catcher's throw.

Unfortunately, his team mate struck out. The next Shark batter hit a high pop up to left field and Harley ran as fast as he could towards third. The Tiger's left field player easily caught the pop up as Harley sprinted for home plate.

Even though the Sharks failed to score, Harley's coaches and team mates all congratulated him on his hit. Harley was ecstatic! He checked his pockets for money between innings and was thrilled when he realized that he had enough money to buy his new batting coach not one, but two grape sno-cones after the game. She deserved it. He couldn't wait to see her again and thank her for helping him.

Harley's next bat came in the seventh inning with two outs. He focused on gripping his bat exactly on the sharpie marks as he watched the pitcher's wind up. Harley exhaled his breath as the pitcher let go of the ball. Then suddenly the ball veered sharply to the left as it neared the plate. Harley couldn't move fast enough and the ball grazed the top of his left thigh leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Harley had been hit before by pitched balls and he knew that this one could have been a whole lot worse, but his leg still hurt. He limped slightly as he took first base on the bad pitch. Harley was more disappointed than hurt because he really wanted another chance to use his new bat. His first base coach patted him on the back as the crowd cheered for him as he stretched his left leg out trying to get the sting out.

Unfortunately, his team mates weren't able to get a drive going, and Harvey ended up stranded once again on base.

The score was now 3-0 in favor of the Tigers at the bottom of the ninth inning with one out. His team mates had loaded the bases and as Harley stepped into the batter's box, he realized that if he got a good hit, the Sharks would have a least a chance to win the game. Harley focused on the pitcher as he gripped the bat tightly. The first pitch was low and outside and Harley watched it pass by. The second ball was high but over the plate and Harley swung the bat foul tipping the ball into the netting behind the plate umpire. The third ball dipped down too low for even the catcher to reach and Harley immediately backed out of the batter's box just in case his team mate on third base was told to run for home, but the coaches held him up as the catcher quickly recovered the ball.

Harley swung at the next ball as it crossed low over the plate foul tipping the ball once again. He was behind in the count now and he screwed his face up in a determined grimace as the pitcher reared back and threw the next pitch straight over home plate. Harley swung the bat hard and he felt the bat contact the ball solidly with a loud ping. Harley saw the ball travel over the first baseman's head and into right field short of the fence, but far enough away from the right fielder to make Harley leap out of the batter's box and take off at full speed to first base. He saw his first base coach wave him on to second as he approached the bag and Harley immediately turned to his left setting his sights on second base. As he rounded second base still at full speed he saw his third base coach wave him on to third. Harley was starting to pant now as he barreled down the line towards third base. To his surprise, his third base coach waved him on to home as he got close to third base. Harley sucked in a quick breath as he heard the crowd cheering loudly and he zeroed in on home plate. He heard Coach Whitaker yell 'slide' and Harley dove head first into home plate as he saw the ball sail past him out of the corner of his eye.

"He's **safe**!" the plate umpire yelled over the cheers of the crowd.

Harley was too stunned to move and he laid on top of home plate for a few seconds still not believing that he had not only scored a run, but had scored the **winning **run for his team.

The next thing Harley became aware of was Coach Whitaker picking him up off the ground and lifting him up high in the air. From his new vantage point he could now make out not only his grandfather and mom next to the fence clapping and shouting for him, but he also saw Tony Stark standing right next to his grandfather and next to him was his new batting coach. He noticed that both Tony and his batting coach were also clapping and cheering for him. Harley waved and smiled at all of them as Coach Whitaker carried him back to their dugout for their post game talk.

At the end of Coach Whitaker's speech, Tony walked down into the dugout.

Silence filled the dugout as everyone watched Tony walk over to Harley and give him a high five. "Sorry to interrupt, Coach." Tony said turning to Coach Whitaker "But I wanted to let you guys know that your after-game snacks and food are on me."

A loud cheer went up from the dugout. "And I also wanted to let you know something about Harley here that only Harley and I know." He began as he draped his arm across Harley's shoulders. "Back just before Christmas, Harley saved my life…twice." Tony hugged Harley affectionately. "And he saved Iron Man, too."

A loud chorus of 'wows' and 'no ways' went up from the team. Tony raised his hand and the team immediately quieted down.

"And I'm proud to count Harley here as my friend." Tony finished looking down and locking eyes with Harley as a huge smile broke out on his face. Harley smiled up at him in return. "Now then, how about we all hit the concession stand! Just tell them that you are all with 'Iron Man' and you can get whatever you want. Just make sure you get some real food with your candy or you will get me in trouble with my wife."

Multiple 'yes sirs' could be heard through the dugout as the kids all shook Tony's hand and thanked him for his kind gesture. The coaches also shook his hand and Tony reminded them that they were included in the concessions too.

Tony and Harley were the last ones left in the dugout as Harley carefully packed up his new bat in his gear bag.

"Nice bat." Tony commented as Harley zipped up his bag. "Nice colors too."

Harley looked at him suspiciously and Tony held up his hands in defense.

"Pepper picked out the bat, not me." Tony explained as they walked up the steps to leave the dugout. "I can't help it if she likes red and gold. After all she married me."

"Mrs. Stark seems like such a nice person." Harley teased glancing over at Tony. "Hard to believe she agreed to marry **you**."

"It **is **pretty unbelievable isn't it?" he replied putting his hand on Harley's shoulder. "She is one hell of a woman alright…and a damn fine batting coach too."

"She sure is." Harley agreed quickly ducking out from Tony's arm. "Now if you will excuse me, I believe I owe my batting coach one grape sno-cone."

"Hey!" Tony said chasing after Harley. "No one buys Mrs. Stark grape sno-cones but me!"

**Author's Notes: **

**The character Harley was definitely a bright spot in IM3, and this story is the result of me wanting to showcase the little guy. And of course, we all know that Pepper can swing a mean bat….just ask Aldrich Killian. I am however still suffering from the major disappointment over the lack of Pepperony in IM3 after all of the media hype, so my story muse has been effectively on strike since I saw the movie. I finally convinced her to let me write this story about Harley. I am firmly convinced that Marvel cut out at least 45 minutes of IM3 in order to keep the short attention span of small children and the non-elasticity of old men's bladders satisfied. Unfortunately, we fangirls lost out big on the editing room floor. And it's a shame too, because we fangirls have carried Iron Man to the top of the movie world. Yes, I am venting now, but that's my opinion and I'm sticking with it! I am sorely tempted to write my own version of the missing scenes in IM3, from Pepper's point of view, of course!**

**That being said, for my many FFN friends that are following my story "The First Time" I have Chapter 7 now in the works. And if you want to read another story about Pepper's batting skills check out my story 'Stress Relief'. ;) **


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